49ers open playoffs on Jan. 14 at Candlestick

NinersDigest.com staff

01/01/2012

In their first trip to the playoffs in nine seasons, the 49ers will face the highest remaining seed after Wild-Card Weekend at Candlestick Park on Jan. 14.

The 49ers, who now get a week off as the NFC's No. 2 seed, will play host on that Saturday to either the NFC East champion New York Giants, NFC South champion New Orleans Saints or NFC South runner-up Atlanta Falcons. The Saints host the Detroit Lions and the Giants host the Falcons next weekend in the opening round of the playoffs.

If third-seeded New Orleans beats sixth-seeded Detroit, the Saints will be coming to San Francisco, where they beat the 49ers 25-22 in a Monday night game early last season in the last regular-season meeting between the two teams. They also played each other to open the preseason in August.

If the Lions upset the Saints, then the winner between the fourth-seeded Giants and fifth-seeded Falcons will face the 49ers in the divisional round.

The Niners only faced one of their possible divisional-round opponents this season, beating the Giants in San Francisco on Nov. 13 to stretch their winning streak to seven games.